The Cowman and the Rancher's Sister Can Be Friends
by beatlechicksteph
Summary: My entry into the Cowboy Up! One-shot Contest. Eric is a ranch hand on the Stackhouse Ranch in 1870s Wyoming.


**Eric and Sookie: Cowboy Up! One-shot Contest**

**Title: The Cowman and the Rancher's Sister Can Be Friends**

**Your Pen name: beatlechicksteph**

**Characters: Eric, Sookie, Gran, Jason, Alcide, Bill, Quinn**

**Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns the characters, I'm just borrowing them**

**AN: I want to thank Sunkisz for being a great beta, and giving me confidence in my love scene. I have a degree in American History and I researched things really well, so any historical facts you see in this are correct. I hope you enjoy my story! Please leave a review when you're finished, I would love to know what you think!**

EPOV

I had been working on the Stackhouse ranch in Wyoming since August 1875. The family had moved out west from somewhere in Louisiana. The matriarch of the family, Adele, felt that the new Wyoming Territory would reap benefits for her grandchildren, Jason and Sookie. Because the territory was new, land was cheap, and Jason would be able to make a living off the land. The territory also appealed to Adele because it was the only place in this great nation that women had the vote, and she and Sookie were suffragettes.

The family had been in the Wyoming Territory for about a year when I came into their lives. I had immigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1873. I dreamed of owning my own land. After landing at Ellis Island, I quickly learned English and decided that the West would be my best bet in owning land. I made my way west, tagging alongside several different wagon trains. Once I reached Wyoming, I didn't have much money, and couldn't afford my own land. I was in the settlement of Cheyenne when luck smiled down on me. I was in the saloon when I overheard Jason talking to the Bartender about how he needed help with his ranch, that he couldn't handle the cows—the branding, the herding, all on his own. I struck up a conversation with Jason, and that afternoon I was on my way to the Stackhouse Ranch half days ride outside of Cheyenne.

We arrived at the ranch at suppertime, and the smell of soup wafted in the breeze. It had been so long since I had a good home cooked meal, and my mouth instantly began watering. We took time to care for our horses before going into the cabin to greet the women. When we entered Jason began to introduce me to his grandmother and his sister, but I barely heard what was being said. I was too busy staring at the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had blond hair that was pulled back into a loose bun, and blue eyes that sparkled as she listened to her brother talk excitedly about finally having some help around the ranch.

"Where are you from originally, Mr. Northman?" Adele asked as she busily placed food on the table.

"Stockholm, Sweden, Mrs. Stackhouse," I replied, taking a seat at the table. "I immigrated to the United States on my own two years ago."

"So you have no family any where in America?" Jason asked from his seat beside me.

"No, sir. I have no family left anywhere," I said quietly. I didn't like to talk about my family, who I had lost to a breakout of cholera the year before I left Sweden.

Then a voice spoke up from across the table. It was the sweetest voice I had ever heard. "Well, Mr. Northman, we could be your family." I looked up to see Sookie smiling a sweet smile, and as our eyes met across the table, I couldn't help smiling back. And as we bowed our heads to say grace, I found myself agreeing with Sookie. That maybe I had found a family, maybe I found a home.

~~*~~

SPOV

The move from Louisiana to Wyoming was hard, but the War of Northern Aggression was even harder. Before the War, the Stackhouse's were a wealthy family in Northern Louisiana. I was seven when the war broke out in 1861. My father immediately joined the Confederate Army to fight the Yankees on the Western Theater of the war. When he kissed us goodbye before leaving to meet up with the army, it was the last time we ever saw him. He was killed during the battle at Fort Henry in February of 1862. My mother couldn't handle raising nine-year-old Jason and myself alone, so that's when Gran moved in with us.

Once the War was over, and the Yankees moved in to aid in rebuilding the South, that's when we lost everything. My mother couldn't handle the changes, and continued to be absent from our lives until 1867, when she took her own life. Our Gran, who worked as a seamstress to keep food in our mouths, raised Jason and me from then on. Gran was also saving for a move out of the South, which was not recovering very quickly from the War. In 1868 a new territory opened in the west called "Wyoming." Then, when the territory gave women the vote in 1869, we had a destination. We set out from Louisiana to Wyoming the spring of 1874, and once we reached the settlement of Cheyenne and bought our parcel of land, we became cattle ranchers.

Jason enjoyed building our cabin and barn, and thrived knowing he was able to "be a man" and support his Gran and "spinster" sister. However, in the summer of 1875, the responsibilities of the ranch became too much for just Jason. That's when Jason brought Him home. Eric Northman. The first time I saw him, I knew I would lose my heart to him. He was very tall, had very blond hair, sparkly blue eyes, and an accent. That first night in our cabin, we all bonded with him over Gran's chicken soup. By the end of the week, we had dropped the formalities, and Eric was part of the family.

Before we knew it, winter was upon us. Gran insisted that Eric give up sleeping in the barn and start sleeping in the cabin with us. Wyoming winters were known to be particularly harsh, and we spent a lot of time huddled in the cabin around the fireplace, bonding. It was February when I realized my feelings for Eric were more than brotherly.

Jason and Gran had woken early and had ridden into Cheyenne to get supplies. Eric was out trying to repair a section of fence on the horse corral that snapped during the last storm. I was inside fixing a noon meal for Eric and myself, when I noticed the sky getting darker. Having already lived in Wyoming through one winter, I knew that when the sky starts getting dark at noon meant that a major storm was going to move in, and from the looks of it, I could tell that it was moving in quickly. I ran to the door and I noticed that Eric wasn't paying attention to the weather, and he was also no longer around the horse corral. That meant that he was somewhere in the pasture tending to the cows. Probably making sure the random feed buckets were filled so the cows would be well fed during the long winter. I quickly threw on my cloak, scarf, hat and mittens and ran out into the yard, looking around for Eric, and finally spotting him off in the distance. A light snow had begun to fall, so I didn't have much time to get to him before the storm became heavier. I ran out into the pasture.

"Eric!" I yelled, as I got closer, the snow falling heavier by the minute.

"Sookie! What are you doing out here? I was just heading back towards the cabin." Eric replied jogging towards me.

"A storm is coming, I wanted to come warn you so that we can get back into the cabin before the storm gets too bad, and you got stuck out here in a white out." As I say this, the wind has picked up, blowing snow all around. We couldn't see the cabin anymore.

"C'mon," Eric said, grabbing my hand. "We need to get back to the cabin before we're stuck out here." We started running in the general direction of the cabin. I was incredibly cold, I wasn't wearing the proper dress, just my everyday calico work dress. We came upon a building, but it wasn't the cabin, it was our barn. "We'll just go in here, wait out the storm."

"Do you think Gran and Jason are still in town? That they'll just stay there the night?" I asked as Eric lit a lantern and led the way up to the loft.

"Of course. Jason is smart; he wouldn't endanger his or Gran's life to freeze to death on the path back here. Plus, he knows that your surrogate brother is here to take care of his precious sister." Eric grinned as he pulled blankets off of a shelf in the loft.

"Jason isn't concerned about me. Before you were here, they would leave me alone out here. I'm just his old maid sister, nothing to worry about, I've been on the shelf too long for anyone to care." I wrapped myself in a blanket and took a seat on the straw bed.

Eric scoffed. "You have not been on the shelf too long. You are beautiful; any man would be lucky to have you for a wife. Now get scoot over, it'll be warmer in this barn if we share body heat."

I opened the blanket I was using so that we could share, and Eric sat down next to me and covered us in both blankets. Eric wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close, his compliment still ringing in my ears. I knew in my head that he just said that because he has become like a brother to me, but my heart soared. Sitting there snuggled in his arms, talking about mundane things, and not so mundane things, I could feel myself falling in love.

~~*~~

EPOV

I was in love. There I admitted it out loud. I had fallen in love with Sookie. After the night in the barn, when I held her in my arms, I knew that I did not feel towards her how a brother would. The rest of the winter went by without much excitement, however Sookie and I grew closer. I wondered if she felt the same way as I did, but I could never get a clear reading. I knew that I would need to court her, but I didn't think Jason would approve of the match. I had no real money, so there was no way that I could support a wife. But that would change really soon, now that the summer was approaching, the cattle drive was coming up. Jason had told me that he was entrusting me and two other guys from Cheyenne, Alcide and Quinn, to drive half the herd from Cheyenne to Dodge City, Kansas to get on the rails to Chicago. Once the cattle made it to his contact in Chicago, and he received the money, he would pay me a portion as wages.

The cattle drive would take two months, to get to Dodge City and back again. We would be driving the cattle fifteen miles a day and we would have to keep close eyes on three hundred cattle. The route from Cheyenne to Dodge City ran through some land that held some hostile natives. Word had been coming into Cheyenne throughout the spring that attacks on settlers had been steadily increasing. The natives were angry about being forced to leave their land and move to reservations and also about the decrease in the number of buffalo left in the wild.

As the cattle drive got closer, I made the resolve that once we got back to the ranch, and I got my share of the pay, I would approach Jason and request to court Sookie. Once I was able to court Sookie, I would be able to find out once and for all whether she felt the same way that I did, or if she really just views me as another brother.

The weeks leading up to the driver were very busy. Jason and I were trying to train Alcide and Quinn the best that we could in the short amount to time. Jason kept complaining that he wanted to ride with us, but he couldn't leave two women alone on the ranch with the Indian Wars going on all around. Jason trusted that I would safely get the cattle to Dodge City and on the train to Chicago and his packing plant contact Victor. While I was busy preparing for the drive, Sookie would make sure she was the one bringing us our lunch, that way she and I could spend a little bit of time talking and laughing and falling deeper in love.

~~*~~

SPOV

Today is the day that the men are leaving to drive the cattle to Kansas. They were outside saddling up the horses and rounding up the cattle, as Gran and I finished putting provisions in their saddle bags. I gazed longingly out the front door as Eric rode around issuing directions to Alcide and Quinn, worry rising in the pit of my stomach. I carried the saddlebags out to the porch as Eric rode towards me, concern showing on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he got off his horse and walked towards me.

"I'm worried about the Indians. I heard Alcide and Quinn talking the other day that they're becoming more hostile. What if they ambush you?" I couldn't help the tears welling up in my eyes as I added quietly, "What if you don't come back?"

I looked up into his eyes and that's when I knew that he loved me. I could see the love shining through what looked like unshed tears in his own eyes. He reached his hand up and brushed it along my cheek. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but filled with fierce determination. "I promise, dear Sookie, that I _will_ return to you. No matter what, I will be back."

I started to cry. "Please be safe. Will you send word once you reach Dodge City?"

"If that is what you wish, then yes, I will. Don't cry, the two months will move quickly and we'll be together again." He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly against his chest. I clung to him, never wanting to let him go.

"Northman! Mount up!" my brother's voice yelled across the yard. Eric reluctantly removed himself from my arms, grabbed his saddlebags and climbed up on his horse. As I watched him ride away, he stopped briefly and turned around. As our eyes met across the yard, our gaze said more than words ever could.

~~*~~

EPOV

Seventeen days into the drive and all I can think about is Sookie and our last morning together. I knew that she loved me back, and the feel of her soft, warm body against mine fueled many dreams on the lonely nights under the stars. The ride has been very uneventful and now we're more than halfway to the way to the railhead. It's the middle of the day and I'm fantasizing about how my reunion with Sookie will go (let's just say it involved getting her alone in the barn and out of our clothes), when I heard it. War cries. I was about to shout a warning to Quinn, who was riding at the front of the herd, when I heard a loud gunshot, and saw Quinn fall off of his horse. As the cattle began stampeding, my first thought was of the promise I had made to Sookie. My second thought was the realization that we were under attack.

~~*~~

SPOV

It's been six months since Eric left on the drive. Four months since Victor contacted Jason saying he never received the herd in Chicago. Three and a half months since Jason declared Eric a thief and an enemy of the family. He was convinced that Eric, Alcide and Quinn must have been working together to rob us blind. He has been struggling ever since. He was counting on the money he would get from the cattle to pay off debts he had acquired setting up the ranch. His largest debt was to Mr. Bill Compton, a wealthy rancher who gave us the cattle to begin with.

I didn't believe that Eric stole the cattle for one minute. My thoughts were that they were attacked and killed along the route to Dodge City. I tried to voice this theory to Jason, but he wouldn't listen. The only person who would was Gran, as she held me close whispering comforting words, night after night as I cried for the loss of my love.

I was stitching on the quilt with Gran when I heard Jason's horse approaching. A few minutes later, he threw open the door to the cabin and had a huge smile on his face. He had been over at the Compton ranch all afternoon negotiating, and usually when he got back he was in a bad mood, so this was out of the ordinary.

"Compton has agreed to terms to forgive my debt!" Jason exclaimed as he sat down to warm himself by the fire.

Gran and I shouted with joy. "What terms did he finally agree to, Jason," Gran asked with a smile pasted on her face that matched the one that Jason and I wore.

"Well, you see, he wants Sookie." My smile faltered. "He agreed to forgive my debt if I would give him Sookie for a wife, and I agreed." He turned to me. "You'll be marrying Bill Compton next month."

Tears began to run down my face. "Jason, please. I've never even met Mr. Compton, how could you make me marry him?"

"You sold your sister as if she were part of your cattle herd. Jason, I thought I raised you better than this," Gran said, anger in her voice.

"I did what I had to do to save the family. If I didn't do this, Compton was going to have the bank foreclose on the ranch, and then where would we be? I am the man of this family, and I did what had to be done, and I will not apologize for it. If that bastard Northman hadn't stolen our herd, we wouldn't be in this position. But he did, and we are. So Sookie, I suggest that you and Gran begin working on your housewife skills, this is not up for negotiation."

The mention of Eric made me cry harder. I needed to get out of the cabin. "Excuse me," I said through my sobs, as I ran out the cabin door. I stood on the porch hugging myself against the late fall cold, crying. Crying for my lost love, crying for my forced marriage. I looked up when I heard rustling across the yard and saw a silhouette of a man walking towards the cabin in the twilight. My heart skipped a beat when I realized who it was, and I broke out in a run to meet him halfway.

~~*~~

EPOV

After about five months of healing and walking, I had finally made it home. As I walked across the yard and saw the fire burning through the window, I tried to picture what my return would bring. That's when I saw her running towards me. She looked beautiful in the twilight, her hair falling out of it's bun as she ran across the yard. I stopped and waited for her to reach me, I wanted to have our reunion out of her family's sight. She was all I thought and dreamed about after the attack that left Alcide and Quinn dead and me close to dead. All I thought about as I healed at a ranch somewhere in Nebraska, and all I thought about as I walked back towards Cheyenne, hoping she would still be in love with me. And now my love was throwing herself into my arms and we were holding each other tightly, crying.

"I thought you were dead," Sookie said quietly through her tears.

"I promised that I would be back," I replied just as quietly. I took a small step backwards and used my hand to tilt Sookie's face up to mine. I could tell that she had been crying a while, and part of me wanted to ask what had made her so sad, but part of me wanted to kiss her. So I did. I bent my head down towards hers and captured her mouth with mine. Her lips were soft, it was everything I had dreamed about in more, because she was kissing me back. The kiss increased in intensity as I brushed my tongue across her lips she opened hers and gave me access. She tasted so sweet, our tongues battled as our hands roamed each other's bodies. My body wanted more, and I didn't want to take her in the yard. I picked Sookie up bridal style and carried her over to the barn. The barn. Where I held her in my arms the first time last winter. Where I had made a home for a year. Where I will now make love to my love for the first time.

I carried her up to the loft and we sat down on the floor and looked at each other for a minute. I was in awe that this beautiful woman would want to be with me. "I love you, Sookie. I have for over a year now. I just wanted you to know that if you don't want to go any further, we don't have to. If you want to wait until you're married, we're married, I completely—" I was cut off by being assaulted by Sookie's lips.

"I love you too Eric. And I am sure that I want to do this." As she returned to kissing me, and all thoughts of doubt flew out of my head. I could feel her hands roaming down my chest and unbuttoning my shirt. My hand went to the bodice of her dress and began unbuttoning her dress, as I slipped her dress off her shoulders I took in the sight of her in her petticoat and chemise and sighed. Her breasts strained against the chemise, begging to be touched. I pulled down her chemise and messaged her breasts with one of my hands, deepening our kiss after I elicited a moan from Sookie. I reached my hand under her skirt and found that she was wearing those new fangled crotchless bloomers that women wear so they don't have to mess with all the layers to, you know. I growled when I found her center, wet, wanting, and ready.

"Mmm, Eric, please. I want you now," Sookie moaned from under me. I couldn't control myself as quickly did way with my trousers, not even caring that I lost a couple buttons along the way, and I plunged into Sookie's warm center. I waited a minute for her to adjust and kissed away the tears that ran down her face, and when she began making little movements, I began moving with her. And then some time later, we both reached the ultimate pleasure experience and it was like our love reverberated off the sides of the barn. When we both came down, I grabbed a blanket and wrapped ourselves up in it and snuggled together contentedly, basking in our love.

~~*~~

SPOV

"Marry me," Eric whispered some time later. And I couldn't help the tears that started flowing.

"I want to, I really do, more than anything," I paused, a sob caught in my throat. How do you tell the man you love, the man you just made love to that your brother has just sold you to a stranger to settle his debt?

"Sookie, love, what's wrong? Is it because I don't have any money? I can make money, I can find a way to support us. I've wanted this so long, I know I can—"

"No, it's not that," I cut him off, taking a deep breath. "Jason has used me as a way to settle his debt with Mr. Compton." I could feel Eric stiffen under me.

"What do you mean, he used you to settle his debt?" I could hear the anger in his voice.

"He promised Mr. Compton that I would marry him next month, and Mr. Compton has agreed to erase all of Jason's debt." I couldn't help the tears, they were coming down uncontrollably. "Eric, I don't want to marry Mr. Compton. I want to marry you. Want can we do?"

Eric looked deep in thought. "We can leave."

I looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean leave?"

"Right now, we can get on your horse and just leave. We can find a new town, get married and start a new life together."

I was silent for a minute. "I can't just leave without saying goodbye to Gran."

Eric broke out into a smile. "You go in, say your goodbyes to Gran, and I will saddle up your horse. Make sure you're quiet, it looks like it's gotten late, and you don't want to wake your brother."

We quickly threw on our clothes and I ran towards the cabin, while Eric readied the horse. I quietly opened the door and tiptoed to the room that Gran and I shared. I knelt next to the bed.

"Gran," I whispered. "Gran, wake up." I nudged her gently, and she stirred awake.

"Sookie, dear, is everything okay?"

"Gran, Eric's come back," I whispered, tears starting to roll down my cheek.

She sat up, excitedly. "I knew he would be back, I could feel it." She looked over at me. "Child, why are you crying?"

"He's asked me to marry him, Gran."

Her smile faded. "But Jason just pledged you to Mr. Compton. Does he know?"

I nodded, my tears coming down harder. "That's why I'm here, Gran. To say goodbye."

"Goodbye? I don't understand." Gran paused for a minute and then realization hit her. "Oh, my dear sweet child. I see." Tears began to fall down her cheek. "Do you love him?"

I nodded. "More than anything."

"Then you must go. Follow your heart. You only get one chance at real love, and you shouldn't throw it away because you have an idiot for a brother." She pulled me in her arms. "Go, be happy, Sookie. You were meant to be happy."

"I love you so much Gran, and when Eric and I get settled, I will send word to you, I promise."

After one final hug and one more final goodbye, I grabbed my cape and ran out the front door of the cabin. Eric was waiting next to my horse, and he helped me up, before climbing on behind me. He gave the horse a gentle kick and we were off. When we were a short distance off, I glanced behind us only once to take one final look at the ranch that we both called home, that filled our memories with images of love. Then I looked ahead, towards the unknown lands. Our futures may be uncertain, but I could be happy knowing that at least our futures would be faced together.


End file.
